the means of communication are such as they are in New South Wales? A recent writer says that in both colonies the expenses ' are enormous to a person on his first landing.'*

Having examined the matter with care, he is convinced ཝ that no free labour could be advantageously, at present, en'gaged in England and brought out to the colony.' Here we have the most fertile lands only in cultivation, yet the product of labour is less than in England. Mechanics obtain higher wages, in money, than at home, but if the high price of wheat, and of all manufactured articles, be taken into consideration, it is at least doubtful if their compensation is in any degree increased.§

In regard to the settlement of Van Dieman's land, we are informed that the labour of the industrious settler has almost 'invariably brought him to ruin,' and that returns to capital were less than might have been derived from a similar amount in England. The population being small, none but the most fertile lands are cultivated, and they are sold on the most reasonable terms, being first valued by commissioners, generally at an average of five shillings per acre, of which five per cent. is

* Political Economy of New South Wales, by John Henderson, p. 37.—Printed at Calcutta.

+ Ibid. p. 33.

The prices are given by Mr. Martin, p. 187, for 1828, 29, 30, 31, and 34, the averages of which are as follows:

Wheat 78. 4d. = $1 76 per bushel.

Maize 48. 11d. = 1 18 do.

Hay 1508. 4d. = 36 08 per ton.

§ All doubt on this head is removed by the Report on the Colony of Western Australia, received as this sheet was passing through the press, and noticed at the close of this chapter.

'On my arrival at Van Dieman's Land, and long afterwards, I could not help, in conjunction with others, admiring the progress which that colony had attained; but after more minute examination, and comparing it with New South Wales, I perceived that my first ideas were erroneously founded, and that, so 'far from giving either of them credit for advancement, it was rather necessary 'to investigate the causes of general distress, which now, more particularly, af. ⚫fects the latter settlement. It was necessary to investigate, for instance, why 'the labour of the industrious settler has almost invariably brought him to ruin; why the price of stock has fallen far below the average of increase; why, after 'an enormous expenditure of capital, the returns were far less than might have 'been derived from a similar amount in England; and why property was steadily ' and rapidly depreciating in value.'—Henderson, p. 1.

payable annually, after seven years' occupancy: or the whole may be redeemed upon the payment of one half of the valuation, say 2s. 6d. per acre.* Reasonable as are these terms, the settlers are unable to comply with them. Lands are abundant, but they have no value, for want of the capital required for their improvement by roads, bridges, &c.

When they may be had on such terms, there can certainly be no necessity for resorting to inferior soils. One year's rent of a farmer in England would pay for transporting himself and family to New South Wales, or Van Dieman's land, where he could have thousands of acres, in fee. Why should he remain at home when such advantages are held out to him? Because the rent he pays is only interest on capital expended for the improvement of the land, and he can pay it and yet make more than he could do by taking wild land in those countries for nothing.

If large investments were now made in distant lands in Australia, and the proprietors were to count accurately the cost, they would find, by the time they came into action, that it was greater than the product; as the United States would have found, had they not been aided by the extraordinary enterprise of their citizens. If the government be well administered-if peace be maintained-if person and property remain secure-if taxation be moderate-promoting the rapid growth of capital, and that capital be invested in the formation of channels of communication similar to those of the United States, the day will come when the acute speculator, watching the course of improvement, and slightly anticipating its progress, will purchase those lands for a small portion of the interest they will have obtained in those communications,

Settlers obtain grants upon condition of paying, after seven years, five per 'cent. on a valuation of the land to be made by commissioners appointed for that 'purpose, and I believe it is understood that this is to average five shillings per 'acre.' • The quit rents are redeemable at the rate of ten years' pur'chase't The settler may, at the end of seven years, possess his land in fee upon paying one half of its appraised value. Notwithstanding this very low estimate, it appears that 'the rents or quit rents are now daily falling due; and in 'consequence of the general prevailing distress, they are felt to be a severe bur'then; indeed, I believe they are generally withheld.'‡

+ Ibid. p. 59.

↑ Ibid. p. 58.

and realize from the more tardy operator an advance of 100 or 200 per cent., as is sometimes done in the United States. If, on the contrary, the government be expensive-if the people be continually at war-if security be not maintained-if taxation be heavy-forbidding the growth of capital, it will remain almost as valueless as at present, resembling very much the lands in some of the countries of Europe, in which the chief business of man has been to destroy the property of his neighbours, instead of accumulating some for himself.

We think it needless to say more to prove that the condition of the settler, who is required to cultivate only the most fertile land, is by no means equal to that which he attains as the settlement extends itself. The experience of every new settlement may be adduced to prove, that as population and capital increase, and as the more distant, or less fertile lands are brought into cultivation, there is a constant improvement of condition.

Such being the state of wages in new countries, we will examine what it was in some of those of the old world when the most fertile lands only were cultivated, and what the changes since undergone.

The following table, in relation to England, is furnished by Mr. Barton, and brought down to the present time, by Dr. Wade.*

* History of the Middle and Working Classes, pp. 538, 539.

We give the above table for two reasons. First, that the reader may see the extraordinary statements that are made by writers who have theories to support; and second, that he may see the extent of error into which they are liable to be led when reasoning upon very imperfect information.

The first will be shown by the following facts.

From 1453 to 1497, the average price of wheat, in money of the present time, was 14s. 1d., per quarter. During that time it fluctuated between 2s. 8d. and £1 17s. From 1486 to 1497, it varied from 5s. to £1 17s., and averaged £1 0s. 2d. The year selected for comparing the past with the present is 1495, being that in which it was lowest! In 1497, the price was £1 11s. What reliance can be placed upon tables so constructed, the reader may determine for himself.

If it were even correct that, in 1495, a week's labour would give 199 pints of wheat, it would only prove that the situation of the people resembled that of the barbarous nations of our own time, who have, occasionally, the means of rioting in abundance, and pass, in a few weeks, to a state of starvation. The 199 pints of 1495 would be reduced in 1497 to 32 pints, or half a bushel, for the support of the labourer and his family for a week. If, however, it were not correct-if the wages of 1495 were far below what is stated by Mr. Barton, as we propose to show was

the case, what must have been the condition of the labourer in 1497, when wheat was six times higher? or in 1486, when it was seven times higher? or what must it have been in the preceding century, when it was, on one occasion, eighteen, and on another, twenty-one times as high?

Mr. Barton is not alone in error arising out of very imperfect information. Mr. Malthus says, that in 1350, the labourer could earn from three fourths of a peck, to one peck, of wheat per day, or about 80 pints for a week's labour. In 1444, he states wages to have been a peck of wheat per day, or 96 pints per week, and from that period to the end of the century, two pecks per day, or 192 pints per week. From 1646 to 1665, he says the labourer could hardly earn three fourths of a peck per day, or 72 pints per week. From 1655 to 1700, scarcely so much, and during the first twenty years of the last century, about four fifths of a peck, or 76 pints per week. For five years ending with 1810, he considers wages to have been about five sixths of a peck, or 80 pints per week. If these statements were correct, it would be obvious that with the extension of cultivation there had been a diminution in the powers of labour applied to the production of food.

We submit them to the reader, in order that he may be fully aware of the views entertained by others, and compare them with those which we shall offer for his consideration, and judge for himself of their correctness.

The difficulties that exist in estimating the return to labour at remote periods are two. First, although we may ascertain what were the daily wages ordinarily paid, it is exceedingly difficult to determine for what portion of the year employment was to be obtained. Second, although we may be able to ascertain the quantity of any particular commodity, such as corn, that was obtained by a given amount of labour, it is not so easy to determine the quantity of other necessaries, or conveniences, that could be had in exchange therefor.

In nothing is the superiority of a high state of civilization more evident than in the equal manner in which employment is distributed throughout the year. Where labour is not assisted by capital, large numbers of people are required at certain

• Principles of Political Economy, Chapter IV. Section 4.